(This caricature of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)Donald Trump has been a terrible president, and sadly, that's an understatement. He has done a series of horrendous things (withdrawing from the Paris Accords, violating the Iran Agreement, refusing to defend a journalist working for an American paper, caging children at our Southern border, abolishing rules that protect our environment, obstructing justice, obstructing Congress, etc.).
But as bad as those things are (and they are very bad), his latest action may be the worst thing he's ever done.
After bragging about destroying the ISIS Caliphate, he has now betrayed the fighters who did the most to accomplish that -- the Kurdish fighters. The Kurds were our best allies in Syria, and they lost over 10,000 soldiers fighting and defeating ISIS. By taking the brunt of the fight against ISIS on themselves, they saved the lives of many thousands of American soldiers. The United States owes them an enormous debt of gratitude.
Trump repaid that debt by betraying them. After a phone call with the authoritarian leader of Turkey, Trump withdrew the American troops in Northern Syria. Those troops were the only obstacle to Turkey invading land now held by our Kurdish allies. Turkey hates the Kurds, and now has begun bombing the Kurds. That is just the first step to an invasion which will likely result in an "ethnic cleansing" -- the genocide of our Kurdish allies. A bloodbath will ensue, and it will be Donald Trump's fault.
And the world is watching. All of our allies are watching (as are our enemies). And Trump's betrayal of the Kurds sends a loud message to them. If they didn't know it before, our allies now must know that the United States cannot be trusted. The United States, under Donald Trump, will sell them out in a heartbeat -- either because Trump would gain financially, or because he is a foolish incompetent that cannot grasp the intricacies of foreign policy. And our enemies now know that Trump can be conned into betraying our allies.
I would like to think that if Trump is impeached (which he should be) or defeated in the next election (which he must be), that a new president can re-establish our allies trust in the U.S. -- and show our enemies that we will support our friends and stand up to those who attack them. Unfortunately, it will not be that easy. They will know there is always a chance that another Trump-like person could be elected.
It will be very difficult and take a long time to re-establish any trust in U.S. leadership. With this single action, Trump has made the world a much more dangerous place for everyone.
